Generally speaking, when two electrical components are connected together, it is important that the connection be strong to prevent accidental pullout of such components. This is particularly difficult to achieve with underground connections due to the fact that they are hidden underground and require an antioxidant compound to counteract against the corrosive tendencies of moist soil. Some such antioxidants are oil based and provide as much of a lubricating property as an antioxidizing property to the connection.
Others, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,312,793 and 4,214,121 to Charneski et al., prefer to use a thermosetting hardenable resin, such as an epoxy or polyester, to solidify a connection. However, such hardening resins can be costly and often present other appreciable difficulties (e.g., exact mixing of ingredients, exothermic reaction) for those in the field preparing such connections.
Another approach has been to texturize the component surface by pre-crimping the attachment surface or knurling, for example, a grounding rod. In both cases, the use of extra tooling by those in the field only serves to unnecessarily complicate the connecting process.
For all such connections, it is desirable to increase the rotational and/or pullout strength between the connecting components (e.g., a wire and a rod) and the connector without additional time or steps. Such connections should be capable of complying with UL 467, UL 486 and IEEE 837 (2002) test standards to ensure prolonged satisfactory performance.
It is further desirable to penetrate any pre-existing dirt or corrosion present on the mating surfaces of the components, including the connector, to create a conductive pathway. Finally, it is also desirable to prevent moisture ingress and oxidation of the crimped connection for an extended period of time.
These and other problems of the prior art, as well as these and other desired goals of a proper joint compound for an electrical connection, are addressed by the invention of this application.